The Gaming Tailgate Video Podcast
To be entered in the drawing for a copy of UEFA EURO 2012, respond to this posting with your console of choice, and your top feedback item(s) for FIFA 13. We will pick winners at random on Wednesday, May 9 at 9 PM CT. (UEFA EURO 2012 is an expansion pack, so you must own FIFA 12 in order to play & win.)
Additional FIFA news and feedback can be had by following FIFA Community Reps Rom and Rolla on Twitter or find them on Instagram by searching EASPORTSFIFA. Continue on to read JBHuskers' impressions of UEFA EURO 2012 and get entered into the drawing.
If you haven't kept up with FIFA news, here is the official release detailing the game features:
The only officially licensed videogame of the 2012 European Football Championship which begins June 8 in Poland and Ukraine, EA SPORTS UEFA EURO 2012 recreates all the drama and excitement of one of the largest and most-watched sporting events on the planet. Fans will be able to compete for glory as their favourite European country in the UEFA EURO 2012™ tournament against rival nations in the group stage, progress through the sudden victory knockout rounds, and ultimately compete for the chance to be crowned UEFA EURO 2012™ champion.
EA SPORTS and Coca-Cola Zero™ are teaming up to deliver an online service that will drive real-life story lines from the UEFA EURO 2012™ qualifying campaign and during the tournament into the game, enabling fans to relive dramatic moments with challenges based on real-life matches. Fans are able to submit matches and vote on the ones they want to replay by visiting the EA SPORTS football community at http://www.facebook.com/easportsfifa. Challenges that receive the most votes will be pushed into the game weekly between April 27 and July 5, 2012. Challenges will enable fans to earn experience points and level up their EA SPORTS Football Club profile.
UEFA EURO 2012 also features a new mode called Expedition that enables fans to build, manage and compete with a customized team against other European nations, crafting the perfect strategy for European domination. Fans will choose their favorite European player or FIFA Soccer 12 Virtual Pro to captain their customized team, win matches to earn better players from defeated nations, and then defeat the best nations to earn the best players in a campaign quest to defeat all 53 countries and complete the journey to conquer Europe.
If you play FIFA 12 on the PS3, make sure to check out the TGT FIFA League.
JBHuskers' Impressions of UEFA Euro 2012
On April 24th, EA SPORTS released an expansion pack for FIFA 12 with the UEFA EURO 2012 DLC. As opposed to a $39.99 standalone disc package, the UEFA EURO 2012 expansion pack comes as a downloadable package for only $19.99; which immediately gives the customer a great value. Just like past UEFA EURO or World Cup special editions of FIFA, UEFA EURO 2012 feels like it's own separate game once you get into it from the main menu. In the video below, you'll see a little presentation prior to UEFA EURO loading up. The interface is skinned differently, but is very similar to the regular FIFA 12 game with the horizontal bar going left or right to select which game mode you want to play. Additionally, the EA SPORTS Football Club leveling system carries over seamlessly into UEFA EURO 2012. There are five main components to this DLC, Online UEFA EURO 2012, Kick-Off (exhibition match), Expedition, UEFA EURO 2012, and Challenges.
For those familiar with past UEFA EURO and World Cup games, you won't be surprised with the layout and format of the tournament setup. In the setup for both the online and offline UEFA EURO 2012 tournaments, you are starting in the group stage. For the online tournament, your group is filled with unknowns until you start playing online matches. Your first three online matches will determine the four nations in your group. In the offline tournament the teams and groups will already be set up for you, but it is not set up exactly how the groups will be shaping up for the tournament. Thankfully, you can freely edit the groups, and even the teams as you wish, so you can make your own set of 16 to compete, or go along with the real-life setup.
There are a couple of drawbacks with the offline and online UEFA EURO tournament. First off, the qualifying stages are missing from play as you jump right into group play at 16 teams. For the real-life UEFA EURO 2012, there were 51 teams competing for 14 spots (as 2 spots were held by the host countries of Poland and the Ukraine). It would have been nice to be able to give the complete experience from start to finish within the tournament. There are over 50 nations to choose from in this DLC; however, not all of the nations are licensed, so you will not see authentic kits and rosters for some teams. This is an understandable omission as getting over 50 countries to comply is quite an undertaking.
A couple of usual FIFA standards show up in this DLC pack as well with Kick-Off and Challenges. Kick-Off allows you to play solo or against a friend on the same console in a match with the UEFA EURO nations. I would have liked to seen the ability to have online play on Kick-Off where friends can possibly do a version of the tournament on paper (so to speak). Challenges are no stranger to FIFA games, and they provide some great real-life situations for you to overcome. For this DLC, you'll have a current challenge to overcome, and a certain time frame to complete it. Currently there is the Norway/Denmark match from March 26th where you have little time remaining to secure a win for the Danes. At press time, this challenge has 44 hours and 30 minutes remaining to play. As the UEFA EURO tournament progresses, more real-life situations will be available. In my opinion, it's always great to try to repeat or rewrite history, and these challenges enable you to do so.
A completely brand new game mode makes it's way into this DLC pack, and it's a great one. This mode is called Expedition. For those who think they have done everything there is to do on FIFA and are just waiting for FIFA 13 to come out, you might want to give this game mode a try. Expedition mode gives you the ability to create a fantasy roster of players for the custom team that you make. That fantasy roster is MILES away from coming to fruition though as you will just start with your created player (if you have one) and a roster made up of all reserve players. Your goal is to conquer all of the European nations one by one, and taking a player from their team along the way. Just like in FIFA Street, you are able to take a reserve player the first time you beat a particular nation, a substitute player the second time you beat that same nation, and a starting 11 player the third time you beat the nation.
Each time you gain a win against a nation, you earn a mosaic piece. To complete the mosaic, you will need to beat ALL 53 nations 3 times each. If you were looking for more to do with FIFA, this will definitely give you more to do. As you beat nations, roads to the defeated country will open up on the map (like the one shown in the picture above). The more roads you have open, the more options you have in choosing your next match, but be careful. If you lose a match, you could destroy a road to that country, and you'll have to work to rebuild that road.
Overall, you cannot go wrong with the UEFA EURO 2012 DLC pack for FIFA 12 at half the price a typical tournament pack would cost. There is a TON to do, especially with Expedition. If you're a trophy or achievement hunter, you will have to complete the mosaic in order to get one of the achievements, or in other words get a total of 159 wins. Competing with other FIFA players online in this tournament format is always fun, and sometimes can be very challenging, and on top of all of that, you get to also relive moments as they happen in this year's tournament. I am greatly pleased with the entire package that this DLC provides, but I must let you go now as I need to continue to build that mosaic in Expedition!
Please check out the video below for the opening welcome screen for the DLC, along with a menu run through, and a full match between Spain and Italy.
vBulletin Message